Have you ever read or even made comment yourself like ,” You are going to hell!”, “Jesus is coming so change”, “You disgust me!”, “You are a shame to womanhood”, “It’s best you were not alive” , “Stupid fool!” , “God have mercy on your soul” these and many other similar comments are all because someone posted a picture or video of THEMSELVES these people do not agree with. These comments makes these social media personalities being attacked feel hurt, afraid, hated and less of themselves. Do the cyber bullies know this? I’m sure they do. And you still wonder whom the real monsters are?

It is indeed a big shame that despite the murder that was committed without justice and the suicides that are happening because people choose to live their own lives the way they choose , Ghanaians and many other countries are not an exception to this. We see trolls on people’s pages and walls everyday trying to ‘cyberbully’ which matured and insensitive bullies will describe as ‘correction’. You know what, if you really wanted to correct someone you’d do it out of love and out of the face of the public. Still, it will be up to the person to take your advice or not and that’s when you take the cue and back off! Change is not something you bully someone into doing. To share your faith or belief is a CHOICE. And the fact that anybody should think otherwise is insanity.

It seems to me that all of a sudden people forget the follow and the unfollow button on social media when they see things they don’t like. It seems to me that people have such stinking self image of themselves that they need to put other people with better self images down to feel better. It seems to me, that hurting people has become a passion because people are hailed for it. On the pages of social media personalities in Africa like The late Ebony, Efia Odo, Moesha Boudong, Bobrisky and the likes, it is appalling to see certain comments of bullying and almost life threatening ones for pictures like, wearing a bikini at the pool or a slutty caption…anything that these bullies do not agree with.

To the religious who thinks God rewards for hating others and even commiting ‘honour killings’, as a man of faith, I believe that God is a God of love. From the beginning, God gave us all the freedom of choice and therefore warned those of us who believe in him not to judge others but treat them with love and empathy like he treats us. Jesus will not bully anybody to killing themselves neither will Allah welcome you to heaven for committing murder. That’s just insane. Stop attacking people because it only shows the evil in you and not the ‘good’ in any god.

The truth is, we don’t know what these social media personalities are going through in their lives, their personal stories, what motivates their lifestyle. The truth is, social media does not cover even a quarter of who these people really are in real life so if we can’t hail them for being themselves, we can simply unfollow them rather than pushing them into depression, suicide and even encouraging murders.

This video got me so upset and I hope it upsets you enough to make a change and want to call others to change too by sharing this article to as many people as possible. This is way too common a practice than it should be.

A clear predicament of guys in dating and relationships especially in the black community is the financial demands made by girls. It is such a norm that a guy pays a girl he is in a relationship with especially if he is sleeping with her. Yes, I did use the word ‘pay’ because that’s what it really is. You may not see it that way and that’s why you need to continue reading.

A relationship that is supposed to be based on love and companionship has literally become a game of the client and a prostitute where you literally have to pay your girlfriend to stay in a relationship with her. The funny thing is, the reason behind her feeling obligated to be paid for her services are unspoken. She hardly tells the guy the reason why she feels obligated to receive money from him has to do with the fact that you are in a relationship and usually, because you are sleeping together.This is usually because the society has beaten this thought in the minds of girls and when Moesha Boudong (Ghanaian celebrity) finally says it on television, all hell breaks lose among the hypocrites even those that didn’t share such notions were quiet. Ohoh! Hypocrisy and Africans! We really have to change. Nevertheless, there are many relationships where the girls are straightforward about it with their boyfriends when they are not paying up or lets put it in a more decent way, taking care of them. Yes, taking care of her like literally being the father of his girlfriend in a lot of situations.

There have been many situations where this insanity has been extended into marriage. There has been stories where women would demand money from her husband after performing all his financial duties to have sex with her. I mean, this is crazy!!

It is okay if your boyfriend takes you out on a date and takes care of it. Although some girls will like to split but I mean, a guy will like to be a ‘guy’ and pay for it. It is okay when a guy gets you a present or a gift or sometimes voluntarily would want to help with your need even without asking for it. But the problem arises when it feels like it his responsibility even before there is any marital commitment.

In fact, in a world where women are fighting for gender equality, it is quite ironic when women suddenly back out of favor for the idea when it comes to the responsibilities that comes with it. Women need to realize that they don’t get to enjoy ‘gender equality’ only when it comes to it’s benefits but the responsibilities as well. In this world of gender equality, a woman should be open minded, independent and self developed enough to offer some help if need be to her partner as well and not always the other way round.

If a man should pay a woman for sleeping with her, what stops the woman from paying the man for doing the same? Doesn’t she enjoy the sex too? If you are paid and taking care of BECAUSE you are sleeping with a guy or in a ‘relationship’ with a guy aren’t you just like a prostitute with a single client? Until of course the client doesn’t pay well then you move to the next that does. Don’t forget to share it because this ideology and notion in the minds of women in our society must stop! It makes no sense whatsoever!

It’s been the #unsaid of Africa, you can always argue your point because this is just mine and I’m out!

I couldn’t think of a better way to start this year than to answer popular questions I’ve been asked about my blog over the years. I am not going to deal with anything that’s on my about page but completely up and specific stuff. Let’s dive in, shall we?

How did this start?

Well, this started nearly as an accident. I have been a writer as long as I can remember; writing episodes from cartoon network in Grade 1 and starting to create my own in about Grade 4. Writing has always been a form of entertainment and my way of escape from reality which I seriously needed and employed in High School. Only that, I wrote so much that it affected my grades so I was discouraged from writing by my family. So much so, I totally forgot about it in the University until my sister who was a big facilitator in making me stop writing earlier, tried to encourage me to go back to writing. She suggested I wrote for a newspaper but it quite didn’t feel right even though I was psyched to write at the time. I researched my options and blogging stood out for me. I started to run a free blog and later my sister helped me to acquire my own domain and hosting for my blog which was awesomerichy.com. Unfortunately, I lost that domain name to wordpress.com and I had to purchase a new one which is now richardsiaw.com.

Why are you doing this type of blogging?

When I wanted to start blogging, one thing I knew was, I didn’t want to just blog for entertainment but I wanted to reach people’s hearts and move them in a big way. That was all I knew but I still wasn’t sure how. I remember my very first post which was inspired by anger; I was so pissed off at someone. Yes, I wrote an article to address a particular behavior I found in him as well as other people that pissed me off all the time. That form of writing is still with me today when I try to criticize dogma and the society. I am just someone who defines himself as ‘purpose’. I just want to find purpose in everything I do! There must be a greater plan…a greater meaning to life than working, making money and bearing children to add to the bills you have to pay till you die. There must be meaning to working, to love, to living and to blogging other than comedy, gossip and entertainment. I’ve always wanted to make a massive change in people’s lives; that heart and mentality led me to addressing issues of the marginalized and the rejected of the society. This led me to tow lanes, others wouldn’t tread….the unconventional way of blogging is what I chose and that’s all I will be doing till I can’t strike a key anymore.

Why do you enjoy sexual topics like that?

This is a very popular question. In fact, I am using this question to answer every other related question in terms of my subjects of choice. The mere fact that issues relating to human sexuality stands out for you means that I’ve actually made the right choices befitting my genre of blogging. This blog being about the #unsaid of Africa and in fact, the whole world, seeks to address issues that are usually ignored in our society. Believe you me, there are many important issues concerning human sexuality that is ignored in our society and that is where my blog takes the baton. Also, I have written so many blog posts and those on human sexuality seems to stand out to readers only because of how our minds have been structured by the society. It feels like majority when in fact, it’s not even close. This answer goes to every other ‘unusual’ subject my blog seems to stress on.

Do you make money from your blog?

When I started blogging, as much as I was passionate about writing, I was also so focused on making money to keep my blog running. I tried getting the most popular advertisement company adsense on to my blog but my applications were turned down because of the nature of my content. I tried to change it’s nature to get the money but I changed my mind when I realized my writings were beginning to lack purpose. I got onto other ad companies and they clustered my website with incomprehensible ads that paid little. So I went for affiliate marketing strategies and made my first $50 by mistake. I thought that was the beginning of me turning a billionaire so I continued but for some reason, it stopped working after a few. I realized that stressing about money was inevitable with my niche of blogging and I had to choose between making impact in the lives of a minority or business. So guess what? I am not directly making money now from my blog. In fact, I spend money to run my blog. It’s sometimes difficult to, I’m not going to lie about that, but it’s worth it when I get the messages from people who have been massively affected by my write-ups, vlogs and other videos. There have been times I got so broke that I decided not to renew anymore but I find myself break my back to do it when a young man sends me a message that says something like, “Nobody has ever addressed what I’m going through like the way you did in this article.” When another says, “I can’t stop sharing this cos I have been judged and bullied all my life for this but nobody seemed to care” You know, being the voice for the #unsaid is worth so much more than a few hundreds of dollars.

What kind of exposure has your blog given you?

I think that’s one great thing that my blog has done for me. The exposure! It has it’s positive and negative sides. Let’s start with the negatives and end with the positives. There are people who’d blatantly be disrespectful…even sexually. There are rich racist imbeciles who’d offer you money for the craziest things. I receive the weirdest messages about people’s fantasies and impressions of me that makes me think, “Who’s been feeding you these lies!” Getting invited to events I simply don’t want to be and when I turn certain events down, people tend to think of me as a fake who is not as accepting and loving. Sometimes I get blocked on social media for not being able to respond to messages or turning down events and invitations.

However, there are great opportunities I have been exposed to as well. Getting in contact with people in field of human rights and sometimes having the opportunity to work with them. Having dinners and meeting up with awesome people who engage me in eye opening conversations in just short periods with them. Making friends,business partners and acquaintances all over the world. Sometimes receiving gifts from people whom I’ve never really known.

What are your biggest challenges now?

My biggest challenges are funding and the RIGHT people to work with. Many people would rather be in a niche that is less tense, with glitz and glamour. Nobody wants to be in the forefront to fight the bad guys and make some changes to DOGMA and instead become the bad guys in the eyes of society. Most people would rather play it safe and cool.. Even I want to play it safe and cool only that I just can’t help it. So I understand. It however remains my biggest problem.

And of course, funding is a problem. Since nobody would want to risk everything for nothing working for me at least they would want to be paid. The blog would have to be running, research should be conducted which may also involve travelling and others.

What are your plans for 2019?

As the popular saying goes, “Write it so that it is not forgotten” So I am glad I get to write this. For many years now, most of my work has been research based but this year there is a lot that is going to be practical and very involving. I’m building a team and we’re looking forward to start a talk show that will bring these unsaid issues to light. Trying to get the support and aid as much as possible to bring certain issues to light and force a discussion around those lines which our society has ignored forever! We need to force the society to discuss them, we need to scream requisite knowledge down people’s ears, refuse ignorance,we need to force the CHANGE on the society and save people from hurting and dying in their hopes, their dreams, their sense of self, their emotions and bodies. These can only happen when we do something. If you want to help in any way, send me an email at me@richardsiaw.com. Or share this article to someone who would like to help. Let’s all help make this world a better place. Thanks!

Police brutality has been such a constant vice in Ghana that people are beginning to lose trust and confidence in the Police. Respect for the Ghana Police force is quickly dwindling at the rampant happenings of these incidents. It is really infuriating and getting out of hand. Ghanaians do not feel safe at the mercy of the Police Force anymore.

THE OFFENDERS IDENTITY

In this particular incident, evidence coming to me from some workers of the Youth Employment Agency in Ghana (YEA) tells that, the men doing the abusing in this case aren’t Police men but rather, Police assistants and one Police Officer. Police assistantship is an initiative introduced by the YEA to generate some employment for young people who assist Police men in their work, usually the less risky ones like directing traffic and issuing tickets for drivers who flout the law which obviously does not include abusing them.

These Police assistants are from the Sowutuom branch of the YEA office in Accra. Unfortunately, the Police man’s identity is not known but having the Police assistants will definitely lead us to the Police.

Please share this to as many people as possible. Your share will help bring this to a stop like it reached me when someone did. Do the same now.

Police brutality must stop! Nobody treats a human being like an animal and goes scot-free!! Forwarding them also to the right authorities to gain assistance.

Finally having an encounter with victims of gay bashing after researching and writing about it in a post I titled, “GAY BASHING; CHRIST’S PERSPECTIVE!” , it was an indescribable experience. So many questions kept rushing through my mind but I couldn’t help but notice their brokenness, fear and the incessant sobbing of one of the victims. I was shook, I could write nothing but I knew I wouldn’t forget any of their words in a hurry. This is going to be quite a vague write-up for the sake of anonymity but the important things you need to know will definitely not be left out.

DURING THE ATTACK

“I was surprised that people who loved me and treated me like a brother turned on me and beat me like I was an animal the moment they found out I was gay” his face fell into his palms and he was not able to say another word, overwhelmed with tears. “It felt like it will never end when I was receiving those lashes….well, it never did. I live everyday of my life in fear. Unable to go out anymore….I’m always looking over my shoulders.”

AFTER THE ATTACK

“I was not myself for months when it happened to me” one of them said while the other continued to cry.

WAS THERE HELP?

“Yes, there was help from a human rights organization. They offered health care and also legal aid…I was very pleased with their help” For me, it was surprising to find out that there is an organization or a support system that actually tries to help with their little funding and resources available to them.

Justice

“We were able to catch the culprit that initiated the attack,” he said. “Sadly, the charges given him actually had nothing to with the fact he attacked me or beat me up. Charges were raised against him from other stuff….”, he said, biting his lips in anger.

“Representatives from the organization, two policemen and I were almost lynched by the community when we were going to get him arrested” he said.

“With my case, I went with a patrol to do the arrest.” another said. “The arrest was done and done very well without a scratch on us.”

It was actually shocking hearing all of that. It was in that moment that I realized that this issue was not an issue of morality. Because if it were, who’d be morally upright in this instance; the attacker or the victims. If these things were really happening, how come the media and people of Ghana are so quiet about it so much that we live without the consciousness of these terrible happenings.

I felt it was important to write about this so that people know that justice is served whenever someone treats another human being like an animal and to also prove that they have emotions too….they are very human.

You don’t have to be a victim or have to know someone who suffered this, you just need to be a human being to be empathetic enough to bring a stop to this. Are you religious? Even more so should you want to stand against this like Jesus would. You can start in your little way by clicking on a share button to let the world know.

They called it “The Vulture and the little girl”. This photo of a vulture waiting for a starving Sudanese girl to die was taken by Kevin Carter who later won the Pulitzer for this picture, but he lived just few months to enjoy his supposed achievement because he later got depressed and took his own life.
He was actually savouring his feat and being celebrated on major news channels and networks world wide. His depression started when during one of such interviews (phone in program) someone phoned on and asked him what happened to the child. He replied, “I didn’t wait to find out after this shot as I had a plane to catch.”… And the person replied, “I put it to you that there were two vultures on that day. One had a camera”. His constant thought of that statement, led to depression and his ultimate suicide.

In whatsoever we do, let humanity come first before what we can gain out of the situation.
Kevin Carter could have been alive today if he just picked that little girl up and taken her to the United Nation’s feeding Center where she was attempting to reach.
No matter my faith, no matter how concerned I am of my ‘image’, humanity and love will always lead. It may not always be pretty, it may give me enemies.I may never win an award for this till the day I die but this story….right here it gives me more reason to continue what I do. To some people, it’s brave. But to me it’s just part of being human because in the end, it’s not about me, it’s about the lives I touch.

Share this to as many people to make a change in their hearts and their thinking.

So guys, I have kept some of you in the loop for a while now about volunteering at Amnesty International Ghana. Except those that saw my post on Instagram a few days ago, most of you do not know. Generally, it’s been an exciting experience working with Amnesty International Ghana. I cannot begin to explain how exciting it is to actually move away from researching and writing about human rights related subjects and actually experiencing it; watching it happen right before my eyes. What I am going to do in this post is, I am going to answer questions and respond to reactions I get when people find out I am volunteering with Amnesty International Ghana.

You will definitely be employed by them.

Usually one of the very first things that’s mostly said by people when they hear I am volunteering at Amnesty International Ghana. Interesting, right? People say that because of how passionate I am in the area of human rights and the works I have done in the past. But my response to them is, it doesn’t work like that. There are policies of Amnesty International Ghana and that makes the assertion technically untrue. Would I want to work with Amnesty International Ghana? Hell, yeah!!

How’s working with them?

My usual response to that has been, “It’s my blog in reality” or “It’s my blog in a building”. That simply says that yeah! I love it! Especially when we go out and we meet actual people that need our help. It’s always an amazing experience having an interaction with the vulnerable members of our society. Recently, on one of our activities, I actually had an encounter with victims of abuse; exact cases I had personally reported and discussed in the past. Seeing them in flesh and blood was an indescribable experience.

Why Amnesty?

It’d surprise you to know that I never knew about many human rights organizations in Ghana apart from DOVVSU and CHRAJ, groups I think aren’t doing as much as they should. I was not interested in working with any of them until I found out about one organization called POS Foundation that seemed to be doing well too. Then I started researching about others then there was Amnesty. Amnesty stands out for me. I think the staff is actually passionate about what they do! For them human rights activism is not a job, it’s a fight!

What do you do there?

As a volunteer, I’m supposed to help the departments with my skills and knowledge as and when I’m needed and that is what I have been doing so far. However, I joined, hoping to help with communications. Well, just started so maybe….but it’s been great with any and everything so far especially when it’s directly connected to a cause or a human rights case.

Rape, being such a terrible social vice every society wants to eradicate, it is seemingly encouraged in certain areas and under certain circumstances. The term corrective rape is used to describe the forceful sexual intercourse had with members of the LGBTI especially lesbians in quest to turn them straight or to ‘correct’ them. This was first recorded in South Africa where rape as well as corrective rape is highly prevalent.

It is expected that corrective rape like every other rape case is hugely frowned upon but in many cases of corrective rape, the idea is supported by the broader community; women groups,youth groups, the police and the justice systems. You can imagine how alone these girls feel. Whom do they turn to for help? They are raped mercilessly and it goes unreported. These girls are left at the mercy of a society that is suppose to protect and love them as part of it but they’re rather hurt by it.

In Ghana and in many parts of Africa, homosexual acts are criminal. Many human rights activists in Africa are not asking for a change in the law or a change in the faith or beliefs of some Africans. Many are just asking for just one thing, “Treat all HUMANS like HUMANS” We are asking that the fundamental human rights of people are protected no matter their political affiliations, financial status, religion or sexual orientation. No religion supports rape, no religion supports abuse; so how people make evil things like these right baffles me. I don’t know how some religious leaders who seemingly ignite and encourage these thoughts are able to allow their consciences lie while they watch these things happen. You can also watch the video of the week on my homepage to see what I mean.

How do we leave these young girls at the mercy of these dark minded men and boys to commit such atrocities. How do we leave these girls alone! How does a society keep quiet about this? If she were your sister what would you do? We need to do something! We need to shout! We need to scream! We need to make this stop pleeaase! Please share this!

The term Islamophobia or Muslimophobia stemmed from the hate, contempt, fear and disrespect of Muslims usually associated with terrorism. It is therefore expected that Islamophobia will only exist in countries where they’ve experienced some form of terrorism from some ‘Muslim’ bodies. In whatever way you look at it, Islamophobia is wrong and goes beyond terrorism being causative agent of it. Why would anyone attack a label when that label is made up of individuals with their own individuality?

In a country as mine, Ghana, where we’ve experienced close to zero instances of terrorism by Islamic bodies, still remains Islamophobic. This is not surprising because according to research, even in places where there are no Muslims, there is still the issue of Islamophobia.

I am christian and it is heartbreaking for me, that it took so long for me to realize how Islamophobic our society is; this makes me fall part of the statistic that I always talk about. The idea that a lot of people do not think about other people being discriminated against because they are not directly affected by it.

It is sad that in a society such as mine, Islamophobia has been normalized where people have bred some ideas about Muslims and have passed it onto generations. For many people, without even knowing a Muslim personally, he or she has a preconceived idea that a Muslim is a thief, aggressive, unclean, aggressive in their faith and generally strange. Some also have these stereotypical ideas about Muslims that they are all very strong and other strange myths.

It is therefore easier for the police or the community to suspect an individual to be a thief or an armed robber by virtue of having a Muslim name than a christian name. It is reported that government officials are terrified of visiting Islamic areas with the fear of being attacked by them because of their preconceived idea of their aggression.

In my research of seven innocent young men that were killed in an Islamic community in Kumasi, I believe had some relationship with Islamophobia. Watching a video and seeing tears stream down the cheeks of the Imam about how hurt and displeased he was about the death and Islamophobia of people broke my heart. These young men were killed by the Police under the assumption that they were armed robbers. The Police even went further to cook up stories about them being armed engaging in a shootout with them when all of this is false. An investigation was undertaken by five member fact finding committee and found the deceased innocent. Now what do we do now to seek justice?! Will it bring back these young Muslim men?

I have friends; christian, Muslim and atheists. Some are very friendly, rude, kind, loving and sometimes aggressive but neither of these things is associated with their faith whether atheist, christian or Muslim. These are just characteristics of people in general. Muslims are people and I personally have awesome Muslim friends; very beautiful at heart and in person. Not all Muslim men are aggressive and rowdy; there are definitely Muslim men who will jump on their seats when they sight a cockroach or would rather sit quietly with a book. There are very beautiful,neat, quiet and attractive Muslim girls too.

If there are any Muslims that falls within the stereotype, it has nothing to do with them being Muslim; it is just who they are or how they were brought up. The truth is, as society, we have the power to create the people we want to see. If you judge people based on whom they are not and just on a ‘label’, they will end up being just that to cope with your judgement.

We may have different beliefs, faith, hopes and dreams but in the end we are all HUMAN and deserve to be treated with love and respect. Muslim rights are HUMAN rights.

Share this if you agree that Islamophobia must stop everywhere in the world!

It’s heartbreaking to know that there’s a place in the Northern part of Ghana called Gambaga where old women are kept because they are said to be witches. As crazy as it sounds, this isn’t far fetched at all when you listen to very usual conversations of typical Ghanaians.

Ghanaians typically are wired to blame other people for their failures and mishaps. On a very usual note do I hear family, friends and strangers say things like, “The way this man is sick, it is the woman that sells rice in his house that is causing it.” I’d then pause and ask, “How so?” Then they’d usually reply, “She’s a witch”. I ask surprised, ” how do you know this?” The usual response is,” I don’t know. I just do!” I usually have to take a deep breath at that so that i dont lose it. As shocking as this may seem to you if you’re not used to the Ghanaian context, this is very very typical.

So alot of Ghanaians may claim the old women captured at these camps, infringing on their fundermental human rights is absurd but many contribute to this idea by making incomprehensible and superstitious assumptions based on nothing everyday.

These old women are separated from their families and loved ones against their will simply because they are WOMEN and OLD. They are separated from the society, treated horribly since they are seen as the cause of the misfortune of the people. In another post on my blog, I posted a terrible video of their actions towards them. I can’t help but imagine visiting my village just to find out my grandma being abducted and mistreated because she is old and thought to be a witch. A thought so frightening and heartbreaking. What can we do to stop this forever?! It’s lasted for far too long!

Now the question is why women? Women are usually the target for alot of discrimination and abuse in our society. So in the eyes of these people, men cannot be evil or have witchcraft.

The question now is, “what do we do about this?” Education and a rescue mission is very essential. Have there been help in these areas? Yes, there’s been for many years now. But the work isn’t effective, I believe due to lack of funding and people concerned enough to lend a helping hand because despite the support from foundations and individuals, there isn’t enough support of the government in this regard.

Let’s start to lend a helping hand by clicking a share button. You may never know whom you’ll reach who will be catalystic in making a change. Thank you.